Denny Hamlin: He probably saw his best chance at a Cup go up in a haze of flickering lights last week at Martinsville, but Denny Hamlin really needs to prove he's an elite driver for all 36 races. A win at Texas, where he's had success in the past, won't bring him a championship, but it could save some face. – Jay Busbee

Brad Keselowski: Let's trade the points lead again this week. Keselowski basically beat Johnson heads-up at Chicagoland in the first race of the Chase, and much like Tony Stewart and Carl Edwards last year, he'll take the checkered flag just ahead of Johnson, jumping ahead by a point in the standings with two races to go. – Nick Bromberg

Matt Kenseth: The race to watch will between Jimmie Johnson and Brad Keselowski, but the race for the win goes through the Roush garage. Kenseth, who won a few weeks ago at Kansas, another 1.5-mile track, gets his third win of the Chase. Not that it matters. – Jay Hart

Top Storyline

• Cautions! In case you've forgotten (and I don't blame you if you have), the spring Texas race featured two cautions, both of which came in the first 100 laps. We're not going to see a stretch of 234 laps of straight green-flag racing Sunday, right? – Nick Bromberg

• It's going to be fascinating watching the differing strategies employed by the No. 2 and No. 48 teams. Will they race to win, will they race to stay out of trouble, or will they race each other? Expect Keselowski's team to be glued to the radio transmissions of Chad Knaus … and Knaus knows that's happening. Psychological warfare! These are going to be three good races to close out the season. – Jay Busbee

• What will Keselowski do? Brad finished 36th at Texas earlier this season. Another finish like that and we can crown Jimmie Johnson now. We know Double J will run well this weekend. We expect Keselowski will, but we don't quite know that for sure. – Jay Hart

FROM THE SOURCE

"While we aren't being overlooked by any means, there are many who think that we are still too young of a team to seriously challenge the 48 team [Jimmie Johnson]. We like it that way. In reality, we are a very good race team that is primed to take this fight right down to the last lap at Homestead-Miami Speedway." – Brad Keselowski